[14] A picture of you last year- how have you changed?

A lot in my life has changed since last year. I am in a place of maturity I never thought I'd be. I have lost a few really good friends and gained a few really good friends. I have learned so much about letting go of grudges, being drama-free, valuing the things I have in life instead of wanting more, loving myself, financial responsibility, the importance of being employed, not taking things for granted and not holding onto things as if I'll always have them.

I feel like 100% a different person than when this picture was taken, and I can say I am so much more happy now than I have ever been. There are still many things I have left to learn but I can tell you now, that my mind is opened to growing up and taking on responsibility.

[13] Goals

So, yesterday I didn't blog because I had a busy day and when I got home I just really didn't feel like it. So I guess I'll blog something twice today..


I try to set high goals for myself, but recently I haven't really thought about what I want for my future. Here are some simple, short term, ones that I wrote about 2 months ago. There were a few more but I have already reached them.

I want to take sporadic, luxurious vacations with my boyfriend as often as possible


I want to get back to working out 5 times a week


I want to finish all of the tattoos I've started
[Just finished my arm and I have 1 more left to finish!!]

I want to read 2 books a month


I want to start playing my guitar more often
Since moving in with TP I have neglected it a bit

I am sure there are more, I am having a hard time thinking about them.

[12] Something you don't leave home without

I never leave home without my cell phone, and if I do.. I always go back and get it. I have this lame G1, but I want to get the Droid X so bad!

[7] What are your favorite movies?

I always such a difficult time answering this question. I love watching movies and I have too many favorites, so here are a few that I can think of off the top of my head: [without including obvious favorites like Star Wars and Harry Potter]

Gone with the Wind
Everything is Illuminated
Pride and Prejudice


An Education

Amelie

You Can Count on Me


Thats all I can really think of right now, but I know I'll be thinking about this all day so I'll probably add more as the day goes on.

[6] A picture of something that makes you happy:

Guys. If you know me, you know I love shoes. I live, love and breathe shoes. I wear heels everywhere, and that's no exaggeration. Malls, family parties, grocery stores, movies etc. Literally everywhere. The thing that makes me happiest [and this is a serious toss up with buying new nail polish] is buying a new pair of shoes.

[5] A song to match your mood:

I had to pick "Yours to keep" by Paola. This song reminds me of sweet summertime, driving around with friends, wearing dresses, riding bikes, jumping off cliffs into water, vacations, love, bikinis, high heels & shorts, outdoor movies, ice cream cones etc. I am so pumped for summer and this song just compliments the feeling.

[3] Your first love:

My first love was where I think I learned the most about who I am. I was with this person for a little over 4 years. From when I was 16 until I was 20. We were growing up together and I think we had a lot to learn before we could be as serious as we really were. I had some of the best times of my life with him, he was my best friend in the whole world and I still think about him very often. If any of you knew me then, than you saw how impossible it was for us to be together but you probably also saw how much we wanted to hold onto it. I was the one who ended it, thinking that there was more fight than love between us and that was that. He moved to San Francisco a few months later.


We didn't talk for a few years. He had his thing going on and I had mine. But eventually, we caught up to each other, and started talking again, more often than not and then I went out to San Francisco and we met up. This was almost 3 years ago. We hung out for a week, not at all re-kindling an old relationship. We were developing a friendship and to this day, we still talk and see each other when we're in town [I've been back 3 times since] and I am happy its that way. I don't regret dating him, or breaking up with him. I don't look back on our love and wish it was still present. But I am grateful every day that he is my friend and that he and I will always be here for each other.

[2] What is the meaning behind your blog name?

"Escapist & Idealistic" is a result of an online quiz I took around 7 years ago. The quiz was generated to produce a full description of traits I posses based on a series of personality questions. The test took about 30 minutes and I tried to be as honest as I could be. As a result, I had a lot of positive traits, but had a lot of negative traits as well. I then wrote a long description of myself, primarily based on the results of this quiz which I just found on one of my old blogs:

More abstract than concrete, appreciates beauty, ideal love seeking, intense, imaginative, self expressive, vegan, easily expresses emotions, not drained by social interaction, gregarious, spends more time with others than alone, spontaneous, arrogant, very unstable, wealth seeking, prefers extravagance, competitive, selfish, disdains financial insecurity, manipulative, instant gratification, tries to surpass the accomplishments of others, more into painting than shopping, envious, takes notice of peoples teeth, fears being unwanted or unworthy of love, swayed by emotions, looks for hidden meanings in things, defensive, love-hate relationships, despises rejection, success driven, ambitious, goal oriented, histrionic, peter pan complex, gets very attached to people, intellectual, would rather be in a mediocre relationship than alone, analytical, perceptive, seeks meaning, not good at saving money, heart over mind, does not respect authority, secretive, vague.

And there you have it. From then on I have named every blog [livejournal, mydiary etc] 'Escapist & Idealistic'. I have to admit I still posses a substantial amount of those qualities listed, but over time I have grown from a few of them as well. [I took the quiz when I was 16ish] I can take a few of those characteristics out and still feel like it accurately describes me.

As for the second part of my blog title: "Not All Who Wander Are Lost", I saw this quote in the Lord of the Rings book, [nerdzilla] and kind of adapted it for myself. I love this quote because I have been forever wandering; imaginatively, and physically, but I never feel completely lost from anything. I am a dreamer through and through and I always will be.

30 Day Blog Challenge

Ok guys, I've been peeping a lot of blogs lately and noticed that some of them are doing a '30 day blog challenge'. I want to participate in this to encourage my creativity and give my blog a little personalization, rather than just random stuff. I am going to be as honest as I can, and I'm not going to hold back on any truths in my answers [where the challenge comes in]
As it is March 1st, I thought today would be a wonderful day to start.

A 30 day blog challenge is a list of 30 questions, and I will be answering 1 question each day until 30 days is over [duh]
Some days, more often than not, I'll be blogging the 30 day challenge question but I'll also be blogging about regular random stuff I normally blog about.. so I'll tag my 30 day challenge with 'blog challenge'.

Question [1] : Introduction, picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts.

My full name is Alexandra Lynn Davis. I am 24 years old. I was born and still reside in Salt Lake City.

Here are 15 [hopefully] interesting facts about me:

[1] I have a 1 1/2 inch scar on my face that starts in my left eyebrow and angles toward the middle of my forehead. As much as I like to say that an evil wizard broke into my house, killed my parents and tried to kill me; that's not what happened. I fell down the stairs when I was 2. 17 stitches and 5 shots.
[2] My favorite color in the whole world is Orange and I can't explain why.
[3] I recently stopped biting my nails, which was suuuch a hard thing to stop, but now I love doing my nails [more than I did before] and I give myself a mani/pedi at least twice a week.
[4] I have a genuine shopping addiction. I don't care what I'm buying, if I have money I will spend it.. on anything. If I stay out of the mall.. I'll go to the grocery store and blow money there. I don't have a bank account because I overdo it with online shopping. I am HORRIBLE at saving money and I wish I wasn't.
[5] If you know me, you know I love shoes, and when I am at the mall, or online shopping, and I fall in love with a pair and learn that they are leather.. I cry. Not shed a tear cry, I cry cry.
[6] I am seriously afraid of sharks. I have nightmares about sharks, I get scared looking at pictures of sharks.. I don't even swim in swimming pools with my eyes closed because I'm so scared of sharks. BUT, I recently promised my older sister Andrea that if she quit smoking [for good] I would scuba dive with her anywhere in the world that she wants. [The thought of that even makes me panic]
[7] I have severe Attention Deficit Disorder. I have had about 25 jobs since I was 18 which averages to 4 jobs a year. Its really hard for me to read books without having to stop myself and go back a few pages because I read on thinking of something else. Its really hard for me to remember important things, Its hard for me to plan ahead, and I feel really bad when I catch myself looking at someone telling me a story and then realize that I haven't heard one word they've said.
[8] I have played the guitar since I was 15, with the exception of a little 2 year break or so when my guitar "randomly disappeared" until I could afford a new one for myself. I also used to write my own songs and I actually still have some recorded on my Zune.
[9] I still get really sad and cry because I miss my dog Shadow, who died 7 years ago. (every time I hear the song 'Little Shadows' by Yeah Yeah Yeah's, I cry my heart out)
[10] I played soccer for 7 years of my life. I played Comp spring soccer until high schoool/Jr. High, and then I played, comp spring, I played for my school and I also did indoor soccer in the winter.
[11] I was valedictorian at my high school graduation.
[12] My Zodiac sign is Capricorn, but you would never be able to guess that knowing me because I am unorganized, irresponsible and I tend to go with the flow rather that be on point and make lists.
[13] I have 3 sisters and I think of all of them like best friends. I cherish all the time I can spend with them because I realize that family is the most precious thing, and I don't want to miss any moments in my sister's lives.
[14] I used to paint almost every day, I loved creating new pieces and recreating my favorites from other artists. I haven't painted anything since 2008. I really wish that I could get a spert of creativity and feel that want/need again but no matter what I do, I can't force it.
[15] I have been happily vegan since July of 2003. I decided to go vegan 2 weeks before my Jr. year in high school and have stayed this way ever since. I continue being vegan, which is sometimes a challenge, but I know that its the right thing to do, and I love being a part of a fast growing community of compassionate, loving, group of people.

Here is a bonus fact that I wanted to include but didn't know what to replace it with
[and this is the first question so of course I'm going to over-achieve]

[+] I have recently found a love in someone that I have never had before. I have been told about this feeling, and thought that I had this in the past, but after having met this person, and spending all my time with him, I have finally found the love I hear people talk about, I read about in books and see in movies . Its an absolute, can't live without each other, can't sleep, heart pumping, mutually obsessive, omgIloveyousomuch kind of love. Which is a scary thing, but I'm not scared. I never thought I would find something so valued and so dear, and I finally, finally have.